Eleven Minutes

Eleven Minutes, by Paulo Coelho Also by Paulo Coelho The Alchemist The Pilgrimage The Valkyries By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept The Fifth Mountain Veronika Decides to Die The Devil and Miss Prym Manual of the Warrior of Light ELEVEN MINUTES TRANSLATED FROM THE PORTUGUESE BY MARGARET JULL COSTA 4u HarperCollins Publishers HarperCollinsPublishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith,London w6 8jb The HarperCollins website address is: www.harpercollins.co.uk Paulo Coelho's website address is: www.paulocoelho.com First published in English by HarperCollinsPublishers 2003 13579 10 8642 © Paulo Coelho 2003 Paulo Coelho asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN o 00 716604 4 Printed andbound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives pic All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. O, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who turn to you. Amen.

Dedication On 29thMay 2002, just hours before I put the finishing touches to this book, I visited the Grotto in Lourdes, in France, to fill a few bottles with miraculous water from the spring. Inside the Basilica, a gentleman in his seventies said to me: 'You know, you look just like Paulo Coelho.' I said that I was Paulo Coelho. The man embraced me and intro- duced me to his wife and grand-daughter. He spoke ofthe importance of my books in his life, concluding: 'They make me dream.' I have often heard these words before, and they always please me greatly. At that moment, however, I felt really frightened, because I knew that my new novel, Eleven Minutes, dealt with a subject that was harsh, difficult, shocking. I went over to the spring, filled my bottles, then came back and asked him where he lived (innorthern France, near Belgium) and noted down his name. This book is dedicated to you, Maurice Gravelines. I have a duty to you, your wife and grand-daughter and to myself to talk about the things that concern me and not only about what everyone would like to hear. Some books make us dream, others bring us face to face with reality, but what matters most to the author is the honesty with which abook is written. And, behold, a woman which was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that Jesus was sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment. And standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee whichhad bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is which toucheth him, that she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they hadnot wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most? Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon, Seest thou

this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest Paulo Coelho me no water for my feet; but she hath washed my feet with her tears,and wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this she hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Luke 7''37-47 For I am the first and the...